Remove the barriers of “not enough” time and “too costly” and small business owners would leap at the chance to add benefits. (Photo: Shutterstock)
The insurance and broker industries have been abuzz about proposed Labor Department changes that could allow more businesses to offer employer-sponsored group benefits to their workers. While this opportunity is great, both franchisors and the roughly 800,000 franchisee small businesses need to be especially diligent that they don't expose themselves to legal repercussions in pursuit of association or group sourcing benefits strategies.
To avoid missteps and reap the advantages of these expanding opportunities in collective sourcing options, franchisors, franchisee member associations, and their advisors should navigate these new waters carefully.
New AHP rules
Small business and franchise owners individually are not big enough to qualify for large group plan rates nor the expanded coverage in both medical and non-medical (life, disability, accident, etc.) benefits. Traditionally, they pay more per employee than large employers and have more stringent “participation” requirements. Group-based life insurance, disability (short and long term), and other benefits often have more narrow coverage and benefits than what a large company can obtain.
Continue Reading for Free
Register and gain access to:
- Breaking benefits news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
